‘Be careful of your online reputation’, entrepreneurs warned

Marketing expert, Ayeni Ekundayo, has tasked entrepreneurs about the essence of maintaining a reputable brand image online as that could make or mar their business.

Ekundayo explained that users can access several pieces of information about a company with just one click because of the internet’s widespread accessibility.

He said this while giving a lecture on the power of online reputation management for businesses and CEOs.

He said: “The information about your business and you as an executive that appears on the first page of Google matters since 88% of your customers conduct online research before making a purchase and the majority of stakeholders search for your brand.”

Ekundayo who has helped several companies control their online narratives revealed that many brands in Nigeria wait until they have a PR disaster before making investments in their online reputation.

He said “they need to understand that we have moved past the days of putting off brand management investments or delaying them until you face internet criticism.

“It is important for organisations to know that 98% of searchers don’t scroll past the first page of Google results when looking for information. For this reason, you need to own the narrative and have control over the content that appears on the first page when stakeholders search for you or your brand.

“Throughout the years I have worked in the industry, I have heard clients say that they only want me to manage the reputation of their business and not their own personal brand. What you fail to realise is that when someone searches for your business online, the CEO’s name also appears. For example, if you search for Tesla on Google, Elon Musk’s name will appear, which is why reputation management is effective for both business and personal brands.

Ekundayo said he is aware that not every CEO seeks fame, but it is an inevitable result of managing a well-known company.

“Social media has put CEOs in the public eye. Additionally, clients take errors very personally. A single tweet has the power to destroy stock prices and repel investors,” he said.

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